Category: health

Please take a minute to fill out this seven question survey (you don’t have to answer all the questions); all responses remain anonymous and are collected for my own interest. If you do not live in the United States of America, please disregard.

A new study by Hall and colleagues (2015) demonstrated that a low fat diet is slightly better for reducing body fat than a low carb diet ( both were effective though).

Abstract: Summary Dietary carbohydrate restriction has been purported to cause endocrine adaptations that promote body fat loss more than dietary fat restriction. We selectively restricted dietary carbohydrate versus fat for 6 days following a 5-day baseline diet in 19 adults with obesity confined to a metabolic ward where they exercised daily. Subjects received both isocaloric diets in random order during each of two inpatient stays. Body fat loss was calculated as the difference between daily fat intake and net fat oxidation measured while residing in a metabolic chamber. Whereas carbohydrate restriction led to sustained increases in fat oxidation and loss of 53 ± 6 g/day of body fat, fat oxidation was unchanged by fat restriction, leading to 89 ± 6 g/day of fat loss, and was significantly greater than carbohydrate restriction (p = 0.002). Mathematical model simulations agreed with these data, but predicted that the body acts to minimize body fat differences with prolonged isocaloric diets varying in carbohydrate and fat.

What does this mean? It means that if you need to lose weight, you’ll probably do better with cutting back on your calories rather than changing what you’re eating. It’s easier to eat less of the same rather than less of something different. Of course, if your diet lacks your basic nutritional needs, you’ll have to change (add vegetables and some fruits), but in general just eat less.

I burn about 2000 calories per day with just normal activities (based on my height, weight, gender, etc). This means if I wanted to lose weight I’d need to consume fewer than 2000 calories per day. It takes about 3500 calories to lose a pound. That’s not exact and isn’t exactly true because if you consume fewer calories, your body tries to maintain weight by burning fewer calories. However, at some point if you restrict your caloric intake under your daily “burning” of calories, you will lose weight. The other thing you can (and probably should) do is exercise.

Men burn about 120 kilocalories per mile while running (this is weight and speed dependent) but only burn about 85 per mile walking. Women burn about 100 per mile running (again, weight and speed dependent) and about 75 per mile walking (source: http://www.runnersworld.com/weight-loss/how-many-calories-are-you-really-burning). Factor in how much you burn throughout the day (sex and weight-dependent in addition to how active you are) and there’s your caloric target to be under.

“Eat from small plates, drink from taller glasses.” Optical illusions lead us to eat and drink more, as illustrated by the examples in this article. There’s an old saying in cuisine…”the first bite is with the eye.”

Interesting article. I’m not sure if there is empirical data to support it but it does show that our perception of our food can affect how much we eat. Our actions are affected by so many different things, many of which we might not be aware.

The APA online linked to an article from the UK about the threat of obesity. With all of the recent news about climate change, some people are pointing out a threat that is as bad or worse than climate change: obesity. As a clinician I haven’t dealt with obesity issues (i.e., helping people with weight problems learn how to control their eating better) yet but it causes a lot of problems for people.

Obesity Is As Serious a Threat As Climate Change, Says Minister

Alan Johnson, the Secretary of State for Health, warned yesterday
that Britain’s obesity crisis is as serious as climate change and
will demand a review into whether the current ban on junk food
advertising to children is tough enough.

The call for fresh restrictions on TV ads for junk food comes as
new government research reveals this week that half of all adults
could be clinically obese by 2050.